October 2007 - Posts
I could be the poster child for the newly formed Generation Iowa Commission's campaign to retain Iowa's college educated. Originally from Alaska, I came to Iowa to go to Coe College. After graduating, I wanted to stay here. I looked high and low and couldn't find a job at a paper in Eastern Iowa, though. So I moved back to Alaska for a job up there.
I only lasted 11 months. I came back to Iowa for a friend's wedding, realized how much I missed this community, went back to Alaska, put in my two week notice and started packing.
When I tell that story to the high school students I'm frequently invited to speak to about a career in journalism, they look at me in disbelief. Adults too, always want to know why I'm here of all places. I guess they don't know what they have.
Participants at the Generation Iowa Commission's open forum at the University of Iowa Wednesday had a better idea. Asked to name Iowa's pros, they filled a white board with all sorts of kudos for the state. Asked to name the cons, though, they could do the same. Namely Iowa struggles to retain its young college educated work force. Because Iowa's employers pay less than other states in the region and nation, young professionals don't always stick around.
I did. And I love it. I have no plans to leave. But, since I'm the exception and not the rule it will be interesting to see what the commission comes up with for their report to the governor and legislature in January.
For me, wine has been an acquired taste. For that matter, all alcohol has been something that I had to ease my tastebuds into. With beer and wine, I started off with the wimpy stuff. We're talking watery Bud Light and super sweet dessert wines. I'm sure any brewer or wine sommelier would tell me I went about it all wrong. I bet they would have had me start out with the best each had to offer like a sturdy chocolatey porter or a finely aged pinot noir.
Those flavors, while I love them now, would have been way too much for my taste buds to handle. Instead I started out slow. And now I'm a big fan of microbrews and most wines. I'm still inching my way in the wine department, though. While I've never met a white wine I didn't like, the reds are another story. A friend recently convinced me to try Shiraz. I've also given Pinot Noir a whirl. My biggest quibble with reds is that way they stick in the throat. Dry. That's what I don't like. The heat too. I know they're made to be consumed at room temperature. But, I like the way a cool white wine is refreshing as it slips down the throat.
But, that's just me. Everyone at the Great Grapes of Iowa Wine Festival at Kirkwood Community College Saturday had their opinion too. Some like the reds. Some liked the whites. That's the beautiful thing about wine. There's sure to be one for everyone, with literally thousands upon thousands of varieties and vineyards in the world.
Iowa has its fair share too. As The Gazette's Food and Fitness Editor Anne Kapler wrote in her column last week, Iowa's wine production is on the rise. The state boasts more than 67 licensed native wineries. That’s up from just 13 six years ago. Annual wine production in Iowa has increased from 51,500 gallons in June 2002 to 256,035 gallons in June 2007.
Now that's a lot of wine. And it's all right here in Iowa. So get out and take a sip.
I didn't spend my childhood looking forward to the one night a year I could dress up and go from door to door collecting my weight's worth in candy. My family didn't celebrate holidays, including Halloween. So, I never had to decide between being a ballerina or cowgirl. And, I'm sure I saved myself a few cavities.
As an adult, though, I've been introduced to these seasonal celebrations. Some I've embraced wholeheartedly. Who doesn't love putting up a Christmas tree? Others have been a little harder to get into, like Halloween. I love decorating with the season's bounty, like plump pumpkins and brightly colored leaves. Ghosts and goblins? Not so much.
I've also never been able to pull off the Halloween costume. Granted I've had few ocassions. But, up until last year my repetoire included an angel and a hippie. Not exactly inspired. Last year, though, my husband and I paired with some friends and their great dane and dressed up as the gang from Scooby Doo. The only thing we were missing was the mystery machine. I have to admit, it was fun to get into character for the evening. Though I have few years to choose from, that was by far my favorite Halloween costume.
Most of the people I spoke with Saturday morning at Oakland Church's pumpkin patch, thought back to their childhood when I asked them what their favorite costume of all time was. They mentioned costumes like action heroes, cartoon characters and fairy princesses.
It seems that Halloween really is a holiday best left to the kids. I enjoy the hoiday far more as a mother, watching my son dress up and get so excited with every candy piece he collects.
Ah, the Farmers' Market: So much to enjoy. There is the couple who, if you ask, will give you their typed treatise on the many kinds of garlic. There is the woman from whom I buy delectable brownies and the table I always get my bread from. Not to mention the homemade jams, rows of fresh herbs and piles of peppers. Then there are the free samples of juicy, melt-in-your-mouth tomatoes and salsa maker after salsa maker offering tastes of their concoctions on chips.
Earlier in the summer I snatched up asparagus and broccoli. Now, with fall (slowly) taking over, those summer veggies have been replaced with an array of squash. Acorn, butternut, spaghetti and circus squash are just a few of the myriad varieties of this vegetable that can be cooked in so many ways. Whether baked, roasted, grilled or pureed into soups, I love squash.
And there, for me, is the real joy of the Farmers' Market: finding ways to cook up all those vegetables afterward. For me, cooking is therapy, and my cooking is often experimental. It doesn’t always turn-out well (in fact, sometimes it’s downright inedible), but the process is always fun.
That’s why I liked hearing what other Farmers' Market shoppers were planning to cook once they got home Oct. 3. Their answers ranged from things as simple as toast to stir-fries, omelets, and even pad thai. Many people had bought the same things, but they each had different dishes in mind for their dinners. When cooking, the possibilities are practically endless.